GHOSTS OF FIRE Anthology Release! #amwriting #amreading

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

I haven't spoke much about this, but I have a short story releasing TODAY in the Untethered Realms Anthology GHOSTS OF FIRE! Isn't the cover awesome:

Here's a little more about the collection of amazing stories:

From USA Today, Amazon bestselling, and popular science fiction and fantasy authors comes Ghosts of Fire, a supernatural anthology of ten thrilling tales. Meet paranormal detectives, imprisoned dragons, dark demons, cursed jewels, and handsome prophets. Explore shifting realms trapped in mirrors and a disturbing future where a president aims to rid the world of Otherkind. Ghosts of Fire is the third, long-awaited Elements story collection from the dynamic and inventive Untethered Realms group.

Sounds awesome, doesn't it? I'm so lucky to be among such awesome authors! Snag a copy today:

Amazon and Smashwords

I thought it might be fun to share a little snippet of my story, The Cost of Greatness, to tempt you a little:

"He wrapped the cord on the old fashioned phone around his finger, once, twice, three times, blanching his skin a dull blue. I watched, biting my lip, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

“What are we going to do?” I’d asked the same question five minutes before, even though no answer had miraculously presented itself.

He rubbed his free hand across his forehead. The blue sheen that trailed across his skin—iridescent and not at all human—the true indicator of his stress.

Marcus would never have let his glamour fade, at least not at the office, if this weren’t weighing on him heavily.

“Gods, I have no idea. This…” His blue eyes met mine, and the spark of shine that glinted from their depths sent a shiver all the way to my toes. “This is not something we ever prepared for.”

In the corner, the television blared the news, the scroll of type along the bottom of the screen narrating our worst fears: Shrove Wins the Presidential Election.

Not that we hadn’t fought back. Well, “fought” was a strong word. We’d tried to show the humans what they were doing. That we weren’t violent. That we’d always been around. That the only difference during the last fifty years was that we’d come out of hiding.

We may not have been mortal like them, but we were still conscious beings. Didn’t we deserve some rights?

Apparently the majority didn’t think so.

Shrove’s ticket had been based primarily on eliminating our kind, making “America safe for humans once again.” To make America great once more.

Vote for Shrove and let the truth be told! The slogan had been posted everywhere and would have been benign enough if there hadn’t been a vocal and consistent rhetoric of hate backing it up. A vote for Shrove meant a vote to round up the Others. To do just what with us wasn’t quite clear, but no one thought it was to give us flowers and candy.

Shrove’s rhetoric had included everything from camps, to enslavement, to outright murder of us and everyone we cared about. Each option was met by cheers and cries of unmentionable possibilities for what we truly deserved.

“I can’t believe this is happening again,” Marcus muttered to himself, both of us watching as Shrove gave his acceptance speech to a ravenous crowd of humans.

I glanced at my boss, wondering if he’d finally spill on details about his past. Everyone knew Marcus had been part of multiple plots to keep humanity from destroying itself. Despite the stories and history books he cropped up in, World War II was still a big mystery to us all."

Curious what's going to happen to the Others? What sorts of problems Shrove could cause? Check it out!